Parish Council News

Examination in Public of the Core Strategy: Government Inspector's Interim Report

The interim report has been received by Stratford District Council and is on their website https://www.stratford.gov.uk/files/seealsodocs/170309/Inspector's Interim Conclusions.pdf.

It states that the Core Strategy is unsound as it stands and should not be progressed to adoption at the present time. The inspector has suspended the examination to allow the District Council to carry out further work and the inspector will continue the examination once that work has been completed.

The District Council needs to revisit the housing numbers (the inspector anticipates an increased number) and further Sustainability Assessments work needs to take place to address identified defects in the process.

The strategic sites that emerged at a late stage need to be considered and robust reasons given for selecting the preferred site. The 100 hectares for JLR has been allowed as well as the land for AML, although no public consultation has taken place on the AML land.

Village Green Posts

Reflector strips are already on the side of the posts but councillors have agreed that they should be placed on the top as well.

Footways

We are trying to get the footways inspected and the necessary work carried out. Unfortunately the Highways Officer responsible for Gaydon has been on sick leave but we are hoping that he can inspect them in April and then the work can be scheduled.

Today there was a great view of the eclipse over the village church. It began around 8.15 am and the sun was almost 85% obscured by 9am. There was a steep drop in temperature and birds stopped singing - apart from a Song Thrush which may have thought it was evening!

It is good to see that these attractive snail shell breakers still survive in spite of the deadly blue metaldehyde slug pellets which are still sold for some inexplicable reason (they poison the entire food chain)!

Trying to get through the temporary traffic lights on the Banbury Road is a daily chore; though cast your eyes to the surviving hedgerow and trees that have not been grubbed up, and you will see a small Rookery. This is an off-shoot of the larger one in nearby Birdhaven Close, down the road a bit further towards Lighthorne. The rooks are already occupying nests, often adding new twigs and quite oblivious to the mammoth building projects all around.

Rooks are one of the most interesting members of the Corvid family and are very sociable. They were once a great delicacy and the young nestlings were shot out of the nests to make "Rook Pie". I can still remember eating this in the 1950s (with boiled eggs and a pastry crust). There were special Rook guns, old hammer types with a single long barrel. Perhaps this was why they survived and were not interfered with for the rest of the year!

The Crow family are quite high profile and in spite of hundreds of years of persecution, they are very resilient; so it is easy to see Magpies, Carrion Crows and Jackdaws everywhere. Today you will even hear Ravens around Gaydon. They are very large, long-lived and highly intelligent, featuring in Dickens' "Barnaby Rudge", Edgar Allan Poe's memorable eponymous poem and the legend of the Tower of London. Handsome blue-winged Jays are also often seen around the village hedges collecting seeds and birds' eggs, with a distinctive

flopping flight.

The fading snowdrops are now being replaced by Primroses, with a fine display in Chesterton Woods. Cock pheasants seem almost suicidal on the road verges and have now acquired distinctive feathered horns. You may even spot odd pairs of grey Partridge on ploughed fields, along with the increasingly rare Brown Hares which were once a common feature on open land during March. Bernard Price

Mobile Library

The Library will visit Gaydon on Monday 13 April from 1.30pm-2pm at the Telephone Box.

Coffee Morning

Village Hall
Saturday 11 April at 11am
Bring and Buy and Raffle
We raise funds for the up-keep of the Parish Church
Everyone welcome!

Friendship Club

The Friendship Club will meet on Tuesday 21 April at 2.30pm at the home of Mrs Josie Liddington, 2 Anson Close, Wellesbourne.

Village Barbecue

Something for your diaries. There will be a Barbecue Lunch at the Village Hall at 12.30pm on Sunday 7 June, preceded by a Guest Service at the Parish Church, starting at 11.30am. There is no charge for the lunch but we would like to know if you are coming so that we can order enough sausages etc. Please watch out for the invitation coming to your door soon!

Compton Verney

Exhibition of works by Canaletto entitled Canaletto: Celebrating Britain, depicting the artist's nine-year stay in this country in the mid-eighteenth century. In addition, A Regatta on the Grand Canal will be on loan from the National Gallery from 9 May to 21 June.

More Parish Council News

M40 Junction Work

Although the poster from the Highways Agency says that work should start in mid March they believe this will just be the contractor setting up and planning the work schedule. The construction work should commence after Easter and should be completed by spring 2016. Temporary reductions in speed limit will be in place on the main M40 approach, with a 30mph limit on the B4451 (Gaydon Road) and slip roads. Temporary traffic lights will also be used at various locations. The Highways Agency has been made fully aware of the issues experienced in Gaydon by the JLR temporary lights and is going to try to ensure that this does not happen as a result of the lights they will be erecting. At some stage the bridge will need to be closed for 2 week-ends for water-proofing. The Highways Agency has promised to stay in contact with the Parish Council and will provide plenty of notice of this closure. Details will be on the notice board and website. Most of the construction work will take place before 6am and after 9am although we have been assured that minimal work will take place before 6am.

Obituary

David Bennett 1925-2015

It is with sadness that we report the death of Dave Bennett on 15th March. Dave and Betty first moved to Gaydon in 1960 and lived in the Old House Cottage, nextdoor to the Malt Shovel. In 1966 they moved into a new house in St Marks Close. Last year, they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Dave always remembered with pride serving in the Second World War with the Royal Naval Patrol Service in Australia and New Guinea. Later on, he was also active in village life. He called the Bingo in the village hall; he ran a highly successful Carnival in the seventies; he raised the flag; he served on the Parish Council; and was for a short time Gaydon's Dog Warden.

Owing to ill-health he spent last two years of his life in a residential home in Nuneaton in order to be nearer to his daughter, Jane. His funeral will take place at Oakley Wood Cemetery at 3pm on Thursday 2nd April. There will be refreshments afterwards at the Leopard, Bishops Tachbrook. We offer our deepest sympathy to Betty, Jane, Jackie and Ann.

Neighbourhood Watch

Door to Door Selling

Whilst it may seem that buying from door-to-door sales people is innocuous or even helpful, the process is being abused by burglars posing as "honest hawkers".

Our local Police Team have again issued an alert as follows:

Please be vigilant for people attempting to sell cleaning products such as dusters, mops, cloths etc. in the rural villages. They will claim to be ex-offenders (and mainly they are) attempting to make an honest living after being released from prison. They will generally produce an ID when challenged but these are not genuine pedlars' licences. It is believed that they are responsible for the current spate of burglaries.

The local police teams are patrolling the rural villages to deter these

people and they are being dealt with robustly by having their goods seized and being reported for summons when committing or going equipped to commit offences.

Please politely decline to buy any goods from them and discreetly phone us as soon as possible on 101 or 999 depending on the circumstances should you be approached.

Shipston Home Nursing

Walks Challenge for Shipston Home Nursing

On April 10th, 11th and 12th please support local vet Martin Foster and walking enthusiast Mike Langrish on their epic challenge to complete all 20 walks from the book:

20 Walks in Shipston Country by Peter Titchmarsh. Do join them for a walk or try to do them all!

Competition

Heritage Motor Centre has offered the villagers of Gaydon the chance to win a family annual pass for the Museum - home to the world's largest collection of historic British vehicles. If you haven't visited before, or for a while, this is your perfect opportunity to visit for free!

Question: What year did the Heritage Motor Centre open?

(Clue - it was our 21st Birthday last year.)

How to enter: Simply email enquiries@heritage-motor-centre.co.uk with your answer, name, address and a contact number.

Or fill in the slip below and return it to the Village Shop or Malt Shovel Pub.

Entries must be received by 19 April; the winner will be told by 30 April.

Terms & Conditions: Only open to residents of Gaydon. Only one entry per household. Prize is for a year's family pass (2 adults and 3 children under 16). No cash alternative.

Messy Church

Messy Church will take place at Fenny Compton Village Hall on Sunday

12 March at 3.30pm. Contact Lesley on 01295 771171 for details. Café and Messy Church at Temple Herdewyke community centre on the 26th at 3.30pm.

The Vicar's Letter

I read somewhere that when the brilliant professor of philosophy at London University - Professor Joad, who was not a Christian at that time, was asked on a radio programme:

'If you could meet any person from the past and ask just one question, whom would you meet and what question would you ask?'

Professor Joad answered without hesitation:

'I would meet Jesus Christ and ask him the most important question in the world - "Did you or did you not rise from the dead?"'

And of course he was right: it is the most important question in the world. If Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, then he is who he said he was.

On Easter Sunday Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his resurrection means that the risen Jesus is present with us now. There is nothing greater in life than to experience the sense of the presence of the resurrected Jesus.

Christians around the world understand that it is not enough to simply believe and have faith. They also grasp the essential fact that Jesus commissions his followers - commissions us - to 'go and make disciples of all nations' (Matthew 28:19). This is our calling as individuals and as a church community.

We are to gossip the gospel at all times, and daily live out its teaching in our lives. And together with the command comes a promise: 'I am with you always' (Matt. 28:20). The resurrection is not just an historical fact or religious idea. It is a life-changing reality. God promises that as you go about fulfilling his commission, the presence of the resurrected Jesus goes with you.

When the women saw the empty tomb the angel told them:

'He is not here. He is risen... You will see him' (Matt 28:6-7).

Then immediately they were filled with 'great joy' and ran to tell the other disciples. They simply could not keep this awesome news to themselves. Then, as they went, 'Jesus met them' and they experienced the presence of the risen Jesus; they 'clasped his feet' and worshipped him as God (Matt 28: .8-10).

These are the life-giving and amazing events of Easter that our Heavenly Father invites us all to enjoy and partake in. Happy Easter! Revd Mike Cadwallader